It will be me and my husband. Planning for spring 2027. Probably late April, early May. We will be 55.
We went in 2023 and spent time in Venice, Rome and Florence. We stayed in a house a bit outside of Lucca for a week and visited Florence and Pisa from there. Also spent time in some tiny towns nearby. We plan to rent the same place and visit Florence again, Siena and whatever else strikes our fancy.
However we'd like to visit another area of Italy for 4-5 days before. But not sure where. My husband would really like to visit the sea for a day. We could visit Cinque Terre for a day from the Lucca area, but I'm not sure. Here's the thing. He gets anxious and stressed in crowds. He always has somewhat but it's worse the last few years. When we were on our 2023 trip, he got so anxious in Rome at the Trevi Fountain crowds. I got pushed away in the crowd and couldn't see me and he was so worried. AND he was recently diagnosed as being in the early stages of Parkinson's. He still gets around just fine most of the time and is actually very active with walking/jogging a couple hours a day, being a general contractor and an always on the go kind of person. But that's a year away and who knows, he might progress a bit. Obviously we will not make any firm plans for a bit yet, probably next fall.
All that to say we'd like to visit someplace off the beaten path, quieter, less crowds. Maybe someplace not really known to tourists, but with great scenery and where we can just enjoy seeing the everyday Italy. Or even if a tourist area, maybe a little quieter than the really popular spots/big cities. We will rent a car when staying in the Lucca area. But taking the train anyplace far away. And rent a car anywhere else if needed. We do not mind flying into one airport and flying out another.